More Alice!

I've broken my resolution to watch less tv, but you already knew that. I'm watching just as much as I was, if not more, and I'm looking forward to nicer weather simply because I find myself outside more anyway.

That said, can I just tell you how absolutely elated I am that Showtime has decided to sign on for a second season of United States of Tara? Are you watching? It's my favorite show out now and I was worried about its longevity. Too many shows have been tossed aside and forgotten way too prematurely (Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, etc.) and I hoped that this wouldn't be one of them. An incredible cast (Toni Collette is just plain amazing and John Corbett is about as scrumptious as it gets), a soundtrack that never ceases to impress me, and a plot line that, at this point, could go anywhichway. Great stuff. Now if they could only increase the episode length from 30 minutes to an hour, I'd be one elated chick.

Even the opening credits are sweet:


Check it out if you haven't already. Netflix will have it available if soon, and I'm sure you can find it online, too. You'll thank yourself for it. I promise.

***

Oh, and P.S. I finished Twilight last night and unfortunately now I have to see the movie. Jo, take me back!!! Heh.

sleeve tuggin'

"i know the blog is neglected when a number of folk email to see if i’m ok."

Ella, over at Little Red Caboose couldn't have captured my thoughts any better. Okay, so once again I went too long between posts and got the all-too-familiar reminder e-mails. I'm sorry. I just needed a teeny break because I started feeling like I was going to lose my mind. Things are nuts!!!

Here's what's up:

1) A Taste of Troy was tons of fun. If you live in the area, you MUST go next year. I don't know what I expected of the night exactly, but it far exceeded my expectations. Nicely done. The food was phenomenal, and I was introduced to a few new places that I plan to try out sooner than later (psst...Badass Burrito, here I come). I won two season passes to a family fun park for the kids. And, I got a sweet chair massage from a day spa representative at the event. It was nice, yes, but it just makes me realize that my sister needs to get off her butt and get going on the massage again. She is, by far, the best massage therapist I've experienced yet, and I'm not just saying that because she's my sister. Get to work, Carly!!!

2) Troy Night Out was amazing. Probably the best one we've had yet, and that includes the first one. You remember the first one if you're a local friend of mine and you were here that night. Yeesh! This one was nuts and it's a good thing because it proves that people are out and about again, wearing lighter clothing and smiling! I almost forgot what smiling people looked like! I'm typing on my computer at the shop and I'm positioned right in front of the front door. People look so happy out there. The weather is gorgeous, we have our windows open, the bulbs in the front yard at home are blooming. Life is good.

Anyway, back to TNO. I managed to catch a nasty cold (I think at the Taste of Troy thing...a quick shout out and thanks to the woman who coughed all over me all night) and I was feeling like total poo, but I had to keep plugging along. The art show for Samaritan Hospital was a huge success with most of the work selling right off the walls. Nicely done!

3) Ben's amazingly awesome and extremely thoughtful boss bought Ben a brand spankin' new car! They headed out early on Saturday morning with a budget and a list of dealerships to visit, and within a few hours Ben had chosen a winner. He's now the proud owner of a Honda Fit, a car I never in a million years would have thought he'd choose, but it suits him. We picked it up yesterday. I managed to score his old (brand new) stereo system from his old car, and it far surpasses what I had, so I'm happy too!

4) I started reading Twilight. Ugh, I know. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I couldn't resist, and it took over my weekend completely. Not sure why I felt compelled to willingly absorb so much teen angst, but it's not a bad book. It's an easy read, but I don't know if I'll continue on with the rest of the series. I spent most of the weekend making my way through it and I'm going to finish it tonight.

Anyway, I broke cardinal rule #1 and did NOTHING creative this weekend. That might explain why I feel so funky today. I need to make something. I accomplished NOTHING for the Etsy shop, although I did test out the milk jug lightbox technique and it's pretty sweet! I didn't get a single stitch of house cleaning done this weekend. AND, I didn't work on my taxes like I promised myself I would. What did I do? I slept. A lot. And I read when I wasn't sleeping. But that's about it. I feel much better now and my weird bug is almost completely gone, so I think I was just run down and needed some rest. There's always next weekend. Besides, weekends spent at home are some of my favorites.

kids and crafts

Every so often someone wanders into our shop looking for a bit of help with their charity or fundraiser. We get a lot of proposals, actually. I have to pick and choose lately because I'd go belly up if I contributed to all of them, although I'd like to.

Anyway, one of the more recent donations we've made was to the PS16 PTA here in Troy. Each year they host A Taste of Troy, something I'd heard about but never participated in. The restaurants in Troy get together and assemble their finest dishes for people to sample. For $15, you're contributing to a great cause and getting the chance to taste different items from different restaurants. Plus, you can enter the raffle to win the items everyone so graciously donated. My mom and I donated some jewelry and a handbag, and so we received tickets to the event compliments of PS16. I'm excited to go this evening, and I've brought my eatin' pants.

Things are nutso here lately. We're getting ready for this coming Troy Night Out (this Friday) and I'm still working on getting my Etsy shop put together. I set a deadline of last Saturday for myself to have the shop up and running, and needless to say, I missed the deadline. I'm still working feverishly on it, and I hope to have it up and running by early next week. I think it'll be mostly jewelry to start off with, but some sewn items will make their way, too, once I get my butt in gear. I can't seem to keep the sewn items stocked in the shop, so I'm just going to have to bolt myself to my machine and just crank out a ton of stuff for both shops. Wish me luck.

How are you crazy kids doing? I had a fun outing with Miss Lola over the weekend. Wanted to take her to Chuck E. Cheese for a few rides, but the place was a madhouse and Lola is NOT ready for rides...yet. She loved the merry-go-round, but screamed her head off on everything else. Soon enough. I'll have her on crazy roller coasters and thrill rides as soon as I possibly can. In the meantime, though, I'll just enjoy taking her out to dinner and out for a bit of shopping. That kid loves to shop.

Anyway, back to TNO, this month we're celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Sexual Assault and Crime Victims Assistance Program for Samaritan Hospital with an art show. The folks organizing this celebration are the same people who organize the Walk A Mile event, and from what I've seen of the work coming into the gallery, it's going to be a great show! I love when people who wouldn't normally show their creative side get the chance to publicly display their artwork. If you're in the area, please stop in and check it out! Food and drink will be aplenty, as usual.

In one month...

One month from today (I'm not counting days or anything...heh) my ever-so-patient aunt Sandy and I will be making our way in my old, tired pickup to sunny Ithaca, NY. Our goal? To see Mr. Eric Bachmann play again. Yes, again. Words could never express how excited I am. Will I ever tire of seeing this man play live? Negatory.

happy days are here again...

....because Spring has finally (finally!) arrived! Hooray! My bulbs are peeking out in the beds in front of the house and soon we'll have crocuses, tulips and daffodils. And then, shortly after their arrival, we'll have lilacs. Oh, sweet, heavenly scented lilacs. There's nothing in this world that can change my mood like Spring can. Thank goodness it's here.

On a totally different note, I'd like to share a little something with you in hopes that you'll share it with your favorite retailers. Sandra from The Spinning Seed here in Troy sent me this link this morning and I think it's a fantastic idea. I'm going to give it a shot here at the shop, and the small handouts are printing as I type this. It doesn't necessarily work for online shopping, unfortunately, but if you know of any little brick and mortar shops in need of some business, bring this to their attention. We can all use a little extra money circulating in our home towns and who doesn't love to support local business?

Let me know what you think of this campaign, and if you know of anyone already using it, I'm very interested in hearing about what kind of impact it might be having in your area.

Natasha Richardson

I haven't stopped thinking about this woman and her family since I first heard about the accident. An amazing actress and a lovely, gracious person. So sad.

colors of now

While others have fallen through my fingers, some of my new year's resolutions are still intact. The biggest one is healthy eating. We, as a household, have been keeping focused on fresh, locally grown foods and trying our best to balance our meals as best we can. We've ditched the take-out menus (actually, I can't remember the last time we ordered out...the folks at the pizza and Chinese places must think we've gone and died or something) and cook at home instead. It saves us a ton of money, which is good because we're both shedding the pounds and we'll need that money to buy new clothes. Ben's been helping out in the kitchen quite a bit and it brings me such joy. I love sharing the responsibilities of the culinary world, not because I don't want to do it myself, but because I think sitting down to a meal that we've both added our own touches to just makes everything all the more worthwhile.

One thing we've been really loving lately is fresh fish. Unfortunately, fish is the only meat out there we can't get at our local farmer's market. Why is that, I wonder. Is this a common thing with farmers markets, or is it just an issue we're having here? Who knows. I've eaten plenty of fish in my day, but preparing it is another story. Stressing out over proper cooking temperatures, times and conditions isn't something I necessarily want to deal with, so we just wing it. I don't know about you, but I love fish cooked on the grill. Slap some tuna steaks down on those hot racks and you've got pure gold waiting to be consumed. Last night we indulged in fresh Mahi-Mahi steamed in a nice foil packet and garnished with peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes and basic spices. No butter. No oil. Just pure deliciousness. And hey, no dishes to wash!!! Steam and saute up some nice zucchini and onions, and a pot of purple cauliflower served on the side and you've got a meal fit for a king.

The ease of doing this ourselves, combined with the lack of a mountain of dishes, means we've got time to do what we love to do, rather than rotting in a food coma after a trough of Lo Mein. Ben's spending his spare time working on a drawing for my avatar in the new Etsy shop and I'm keeping busy making inventory. Soon enough, I'll be open for business.

Have any pointers for me? The crazy Etsy world is a big place, I know.

Oh, and if you have any good recipes or suggestions for healthy eating, I'm all ears! We're enjoying this more than I thought.